INVENTORY
INVENTORY. Performance Documentation. Day 5. Final half hour. February, 19, 2023.
INVENTORY List:
-cat-objects
-headshots
-cutouts
-foamcore panels
-chairs
-paintings
-cash
-mirrors
-litepanels
-rubber plant
-plexiglass cube
-blue security blanket
-Brown battery dogs
-YSL gold lame blouse
-black satin dress
-face print top
-fur coat
-mother figure
-destroyer
-cat person
-artist in studio
-Matisse cut-outs
-witness
-groups
-clusters
-isolation
-parallel structures
-circular structures
-runway
-Kirk circle
-a tumultuous gathering
-Le Dejeuner sur l'herbe
-Kent State shooting pic
-rehearsal behavior
-portraiture
-a betrayal
-a convergence
-entrances and exits
-walk, stop, turn, pause, look at someone
-walking with injury, limitation, challenge
-real-time still
-pose
-gaze orientation
-arranging things
-display, presentation gestures
-finger shooting
-shoot photos
-self-care hands
-air smoking
-ta da!
-mumbling
-dialogue
-forced laughter
-unenthusiastic applause
-showbiz smile
-an abrupt run, turn, outburst
-falling
-ripping up, tearing down, toppling, destroying
-picking up the pieces
INVENTORY
A running list of objects, structures, poses, gestures, expressions, actions and characters that I have previously worked with, formed the script for INVENTORY.
The project prioritized liveness, making visible incremental shifts that take place over time through accumulation and aggressive repetition. A wide range of performance activity and approaches were evident, as structured sequences occurred simultaneously along with task-based actions, choreographed movements and play.
I actively directed throughout, making responsive decisions through a system of cues with the performers. In real-time, actions and gestures were assigned, wardrobe changes made, sounds and music played, presence and affect modulated, spatial structures determined, and sequences ordered and timed.
Emerging from this process over the accumulated twenty-five hours of performance was an installation of scattered shards, scraps, and cat and dog-objects, long passages of abstract actions, along with moments of narrative and psychological drama. Many Inventory items were quoted, re-staged, worn, played with or ruptured - and a whole new inventory came to light.
INVENTORY - February 15th - 19th, 2023. Continuous live performance during opening hours, 12PM - 5PM. Presented as part of: Hard Return: 9 Experiments for this Moment - a series of commissioned projects, curated by Kate Gilmore and Jonah Westerman. The Neuberger Museum, Purchase, NY. Hard Return: Alix Pearlstein • Neuberger Museum of Art • Purchase College
Cast: Blake Albano, Angelique Araya, Nicki Castillo, El Debattista, Theadora Frost, Hazel Grant, Hannah Klein, Hayden Nork, Dixie O'Connell, Sophie Ortiz, Eliel Pacheco, Tess Walsh. With Guest Stars: Christen Clifford, Brenna Palughi, Mike Smith
DP: Paul Chin. Sound: John Chin. PA: Lily Reiley and Eliel Pacheco